Big Pharma’s Selfish Pay-For Delay Deals

14th Mar, 2017

There are many absurdities that abound in U.S. society. One of the major ones is health care. The United States is widely known for having one of the highest per person government budget spending on health care. In the list of 12 countries, it also has the lowest positive outcomes for conditions like heart disease, obesity, and infant mortality. Lifespan is also surprisingly low compared to countries that spend less. Many other countries push their citizens to pass 80, still healthy and thin. The United States population barely limps into their late 70’s succumbing to gross diseases, mental illness, and expensive cancers. This is completely unacceptable.

Who is the Culprit?
It is clear that higher spending on health care does not equal better outcomes for the population. If you hand a thief more money for doing his job, he will still be a thief. It is necessary to reform or imprison a thief in order to fix the problem. The real thieves in the American health care crisis are the loons in the major pharmaceutical companies. The FTC reports that major pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Wyeth are bribing generic drug companies to not bring their cheaper drugs to the market. This is costing the U.S. consumer $3.5 billion per year in drug costs. This action is an illegal cartel. The FTC is trying to prosecute the offenders, who have a gang of quacking geese in Congress, also known as lobbyists, trying to keep our representatives silent about the issue. At least 40 congressional members are merely front men for pharmaceutical companies, ignoring the pain to their voters in favor of more money from drug company donors. Pharmaceutical executives are ensuring that poor grandparents in the United States will suffer more miserably at the end of their life.

Returning Health Care to What Works
The countries that top the list in public health care at the lowest cost per capita are France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, and Malta. What they all combine is a commitment to using taxpayer funds to pay the medical bills of every person in the country. This makes sure that everyone is contributing to the government, and it simplifies regulation. When the health care system is nationalized, it prevents private and corrupt executives from bribing leaders to get extra profits from selling drugs at a surplus to our obese and suffering grandparents. We would be wise to learn from those who are succeeding, laying aside political prejudices we have about socialism. Why? Capitalism only works when there is a fair standard of operation set by the government. It only works when corrupt people are swiftly punished, both in industry and government. If not, capitalism quickly turns into corporatism, a corrupt bribery casino in Congress for the big boys. Corporatism, despite what pharmaceutical lobbyists blather about in their media pronouncements, is not free market capitalism. Ask the generic drug manufacturers who are trying to sell much cheaper products to the market. Corporatism kills competition. Because health care is a personal issue, data indicates it runs best when nationalized and directly administered by the central government’s taxpayer revenue.

What to Do About It
Congress acts based on who is scaring them into doing so. Right now, pharmaceutical companies are choking them with threats of lost money in their campaigns if they do not stay silent about the corruption in their cartel. What is needed is a mass voter response. Congress will have to respond if most of their people discover that they are being swindled by them and the drug lobby. Cartel corruption is just one thing that plagues the U.S. health system. There are dozens of other issues. Insurance companies masking the real demand for drugs and treats. The American Medical Association blocking out healthy dietary tricks such as those recommended by Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Campbell. The way to reform our health care starts with scaring Congress into action. No one wants to lose their job. When enough voters ring the phone and yell at the fools in Congress, they will have to do something about it, or suffer greatly in the next election season.

Conclusion
The current U.S. health care situation is extremely corrupt. Both pharmaceutical companies and political leaders are at fault. Voters, policymakers, and the new presidential administration have an opportunity to reform it. Learning from the successful countries could mean much better outcomes and life expectancy for the general population. Ignoring the lessons from the past will encourage the national debt to continue to soar with unproductive and aging workers retiring quickly. One thing is clear, agreeing to do nothing will continue the United States on a path to financial ruin. Voters should make sure that their congressional representative knows about this problem and does something about it soon.